


7 days

by wenjunhui1006



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-08-19 09:36:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8200279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wenjunhui1006/pseuds/wenjunhui1006
Summary: In the night of his 16th birthday, Wonwoo discovered 2 things: First, his soulmate was dead and second, he could change that. But would he be willing to change the lives of so many people, including the ghost's whom appeared in his room, offering help?





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> English it's not my first language so i'm sorry for any misppelings or grammar mistakes.

When the first mark appeared in the world, 100 years ago, everyone was prepared for the end of times. Witches, sorceresses, heirs of the devil; the first children's were the hell on Earth, threatened and persecuted for decades. Then was seen the truth. It wasn't Satan's work. It didn't symbolized death or the end of the world. It was love. The begin of a new era.

After discovered, it has been noted a pattern on the soulmate imprint.

At birth, the children carries in the right wrist two little zeros. Then at the 13th birthday, a sequence of numbers appears. The sequence it's different in each person. It marks the number of days left until you found your other half. The numbers vary according to several factors: distance, possibility of the encounter, age...

The only thing that is the same in every individual it's the 1000 days pattern. Every soulmate will be found after at least 1000 days after your 13th birthday.

If 100 years ago the first mark was seen as something malignant, nowadays however, not have it it's a rare condition that brings pity. In the last century it has been reported that only 5 persons were born without "a pair". An odd number. It was inevitable that one day, 4 of those peoples met, fell in love and started a life together.

The last report of a birth without a mark happened 16 years ago today.

Wonwoo didn't felt ashamed or intimidated by the looks anymore. After spend 16 years like that it wasn't news for him. Even with his parents trying to make his life as normal as possible, every non marked child needed to be reported to the government and consequently have your identity exposed to the media, who replayed it to the rest of the world.  
For him, aside the whispers here and there when people noticed the absence of the infamous numbers on his wirst, growing up was just the same. All his friends - who were a few, to be honest. Just Soonyoung, Seungcheol and Jeonghan - after the shock for his earmark, treated him like the normal person he was. Instead of feeling different, Wonwoo felt free.

At his point of view, born with the mark limited your options. Spent your days waiting and dreaming with the moment you're going to find the rest of your life? Just like that, with no emotions, no contretemps? What's funny on that? It doesn't matter what happens you will always come back to the same place, same person?  
Who invented that? How God, or whatever has put the marks on the world knew what and who it's better for your own life?  
Wonwoo was really happy that he was a non marked. It allowed him to live.

 

After an exhausting day celebrating his 16th birthday, Wonwoo laid in bed craving for his deserved rest after a day full of twists.

In the morning his parents woke him up with a choir of happy birthday. Before 10am his friends and his younger brother, Chan, had jumped on his bed and that wasn't make any good with his humor. But Wonwoo fought to keep the smile and don't blew everything up for all those people's.

At noon his grandparents and a few cousins showed up. Seulgi - the cousin he worships - appeared with her pair, Wendy. Everyone were polite enough to not say anything but yet, he could feel the stares. The hope in his grandad' eyes seemed not to have and end.

At night, the chaos. A moving truck stopped at the end of the street. The numbers on Jeonghan's wrists went to 0. He saw Joshua. According to Jeonghan, the world stopped and his soul now belonged to the guy in front of him. Everybody congratulate them and Wonwoo's birthday party became Jeonghan and Joshua's Happy Soulmate Day. Wonwoo wasn't complaining tho. If any of his friends deserved love, that was Jeonghan.

Laying in bed, Wonwoo started to think how would be his life if he was "normal". Now in his wrist would be who knows how many days left to the beginning of the rest of his life. Even when the hole idea of belonging to a single someone scared the hell out of him, Wonwoo caught himself wanting to know the feel. That sensation of finding your someone. Of how is the moment when you looks cross with whoever the destiny set up for you and the magic happens. He sighed. It would be great have that without all the collateral damages.

Wonwoo was distracted in his thoughts when a noise on the side of his bed caught him. He got up in a second, looking for the light switch.

Wonwoo knew he should scream. Or find something to defend himself or even try to escape. There was a strange person sitting at the chair aside his bed, after all. But he was motionless. Even being uncommon, the person's presence didn't showed danger. On the contrary, the boy sit there gave him a peaceful feeling and when he made a gesture for Wonwoo come back to bed, he did it.

"I'm happy you're not scared. It was never my intentions." The boy said and smiled. Whoever this person was, he had the most beautiful Wonwoo had ever saw.

"Who are you?" Wonwoo asked trying to keep his tone at easy.

"My name is Mingyu." The stranger said.

"And how did you entered here?" Wonwoo's gaze automatically feel on his window and it seemed locked.

"By the door?" The smile was still there.

"And who opened the door for you?" The boy gave him a playful smile and settled on the chair.

"I have to tell you a story." Same smile but a different look in his eyes. It seemed distant, thoughtful.

"I'm listening." Wonwoo was aware that nothing was making any sense at the moment but something at the guys voice caught his attention.

The boy - Mingyu - took a deep breath before say the first words that took Wonwoo out of guard.

"My name is Kim Mingyu and I died 3 months ago."

Wonwoo knew that something wasn't right. And when he heard the words "I" and "died" in the same phrase, it took less than a blink of an eye for him to be pressed against the wall as far as possible of the alleged ghost.

"Oh, don't freak out now, you were doing so good!" Circling the bed, the boy - that Wonwoo noticed be a little higher than himself - began to approach. Wonwoo picked up a book in the bedside table raising defensively.

"Don't come closer."

"I thought you were more fearless." The boy said playfully.

"And I am. I just don't like the idea that I am completely crazy. Or completely drunk." Wonwoo wanted to pluck out his own hair. He definitely wasn't in his right mind.

"You don't even drink, how could you be drunk?" The 'ghost' said, hands on his waists.

"How do you know that?" Wonwoo asked, mad.

"I know a lot of things about you."

"Oh my god, I have a stalker."

Wonwoo took a deep breath, frustrated, and let his body slide through the wall until he was sit on the floor. Mingyu sited as well, keeping distance between them.

"Don't be ridiculous." Mingyu said, rolling his eyes. "Can you listen first and freak out later? We have a schedule." When Wonwoo kept quiet, he continued. "Look, I don't know who's the big boss or how these things work, okay? I just remember that after the accident I woke in a place and a person explained me a few things."

"What person?"

"I don't know, I can't remember any faces."

"And what this person told you?" Wonwoo was feeling an idiot making those questions to his stalker.

"He told me that in the exact moment I was born, another person died. That person happens to be your soulmate. And it seems that, in the moment I died, someone decided that you should have the chance to meet your pair, just like I had. So, we have one week to avoid that your other half dies."

Wonwoo was thunderstruck. That was by far the weirdest conversation he ever had. And what pissed him of the most was the fact that the 'ghost' seemed infuriatingly sincere.

"And how exactly are we gonna do this?" Wonwoo asked, uneasy.

The smile Mingyu gave to him could light up the Olympus, he thought.

"We are going to travel back in time!"


	2. Day 2

Wonwoo woke up with muffled sounds in his head. Like someone was writing on his bedroom floor. It annoyed him; he just had some weird dream and couldn't even try to sleep again because some asshole decided it was okay start work at - he looked at the clock on his cellphone - 6am?

"Glad you're awake."

The voice was inside his room. Not his head but his room. It wasn't a completely weird voice, he remembered from somewhere. Realization suddenly sink on him. Not a fucking dream.

Wonwoo jumped out of bed.

"Why you're still here, for God's sake?" This time, Wonwoo was really pissed. You don't woke the guy up before 12pm on a Saturday without facing the consequences.

"What do you mean?" The other guy seemed genuinely confused.

"Look, you were probably really high last night so I endured your delusional talk but c'mon, take a shower and leave. Come back home, your parents must be worried. I won't even tell anyone that you broke into my house if you haven't stole anything."

Yesterday, after the initial shock of thinking he was out of his mind, Wonwoo realized that he wasn't the problem. Mingyu - he remembered being the 'ghost' name - didn't seem like a dangerous type of person, he was probably really drunk or had used some drugs, it was okay. Wonwoo endured because he couldn't kick the guy out without alarming his parents. So he let the guy finish his talk about soulmates and time travel and fell asleep. But the taller was crossing some lines. It was 6am.

"Well, I would be really glad to come back home if I hasn't been dead for the last 3 months."

"Okay, I had enough of this. I'm calling the police. Or I don't know, some mental institution."

"I'm not a criminal nor a crazy person."

"Boy, you invaded my house and kept saying nonsenses and you're refusing to leave. You don't have much saying on this."

Wonwoo picked his phone from the bed and when he was about to call the emergency the device wasn't on his hands anymore. It was on Mingyu's. But the weird thing is that the boy was still on the exactly same spot as before. Wonwoo took a fee steps back, feeling uneasy all of sudden.

"D-did you... How did y-you..." Wonwoo was stuttering and with wide eyes.

Mingyu didn't said anything, he just rolled his eyes and walked through the door. Like really through the door. The closed door. And then came back. Through the close door. Wonwoo was about to faint.

"It's a ghost thing, you know." The taller one stood in front of Wonwoo and they made eye contact for almost a minute before Wonwoo look away.

"What the hell." Was the only thing the smaller managed to mutter. Mingyu crouched down before him and his expression was the most serious Wonwoo had seem until that moment.

"I know it's fucked up. I know that anything I said make sense but it's true. And we need to do that. We, Wonwoo. I can't do this by myself."

"You're talking about going back God knows how many years to try to save someone's life. Yes, it doesn't make sense, at all."

"You need to trust me on this."

"I don't even know you how can I trust you?" Wonwoo's breath was irregular and he was scared to death.

It seemed like Mingyu didn't had the answer for that. He kept looking at Wonwoo without even blink but was quiet. He knew it wouldn't be easy to convince the guy and he was almost sure that he wouldn't agree on going with him. But Mingyu needed to accomplish whatever this mission was, as much as he needed to Wonwoo to have his soulmate.

"What if it doesn't work? What if we go back, change something that we shouldn't and screw everything up?"

"Well, we don't have any guarantee. But I wouldn't had agreed if I didn't have faith that we can do this. Look, I told you we have one week. The first day was yesterday, so we have six now. We need to go."

Mingyu got up and walked to the middle on the smaller' room. Wonwoo looked at him with a doubtful expression. Yesterday he was wondering how would feel to have a soulmate and now the guy was there, offering the chance to have a taste on that. As long as he was scared of what would change at the current time, the though of having the power to change things like that was consuming him. Wonwoo never had the chance to do nothing meaningful, he was always the one looking at how history developed. But now he could save someone's life, how crazy was that? If the whole idea was crazy, the feeling of being someone's savior was warming his heart.

Wonwoo took some uneasy steps until he was in front of Mingyu. The taller was inside some kind of circle draw on the floor and he couldn't help but laugh.

"I thought about some mind blowing time machine and I got black magic." He said and Mingyu shrugged with a shy smile.

"I work with what I have."

Wonwoo saw the guy stopping a movement even before it begins. Mingyu was suddenly froze at his spot and Wonwoo gave him a reassuring smile. If it was his destiny step inside that circle so be it, he wasn't the kind to back off after all. He took a deep breath before step in eyes wide open.

"Close your eyes." Mingyu whispered, taking a step closer. Wonwoo was hesitant and the taller could feel it. "I won't let anything happen to you. Close your eyes." He said again and Wonwoo relaxed, the sound of the other boy's voice calming him down.

Wonwoo shut his eyes closed and felt a presence. It was like an embrace but he wasn't really being touched. But it felt safe, like Mingyu said. And he wasn't scared anymore.

 

+

 

Wonwoo was afraid to open his eyes. He knew something happened. He could feel something different surrounding him. It was a different atmosphere; the windy was different, the smells, the heat waves through his body. He had not move a feet, but he knew he wasn't in the same place as one minute ago. But the embrace didn't disappeared, just became more present, warmer.

He heard some noises and tried to locate himself with his eyes closed. It was traffic, that was for sure. It was rushed like Seoul used to be. His neighborhood was quiet, nothing  
compared to how rushed the city could be. But that wasn't his neighborhood. Suddenly the embrace was gone and his eyes were automatically open.

Mingyu wasn't nowhere to be seen. Wonwoo found himself in a different room. It could be a house or a hotel room, he couldn't tell. It was clean and bright. The boy knew he would freak out later. How could he close his eyes and when open them again - seconds later - he was a different place, maybe a different time? And why was he by himself?

Wonwoo sat on the bed, unease. He looked around but couldn't find anything to locate himself. He didn't find a calendar or a picture. The window was closed and he didn't had his phone. And he didn't had Mingyu. He felt alone and unprotected. He could be lost forever without - or even with - the taller. If he didn't knew better, he would try to wake up from a weird nightmare but this was too real. Way too real.

"Are you hidden in the shadows or something? I thought you're a ghost not a ninja." He tried to joke and looked around, trying to spot the guy sneaking around. "Please." He whispered, hopeless.

Wonwoo laid in bed, trying to calm down. He tried to recap everything Mingyu had said to him. Go back, find his pair, save him, come back home. But he just said that, he didn't gave him any details. Why they need to spend days in the past? Who was his partner and how he died? How they were going to come back to their present? If they didn't save his partner, what happens to him? Why Mingyu was helping him? Why he wasn't resting in piece or whatever a person do after she dies? And why him? Why not the other 4 persons who were born without a pair? Why give him a chance?

While fighting his own turmoil, Wonwoo fell asleep. And he dreamed of someone. Faceless, without a voice or any recognition means. But he had a feather like touch as he stroked the boys cheeks and hair. It felt good, like he belonged there in his touches. His heart was light despite the uncommon situation. Everything was dark but he didn't care. All Wonwoo could feel was the love exuding from the faceless man. He wished he could touch him too and when he raised his hand, trying to cup the man's in his own, he was alone. He could feel the cold and the loneliness. Everything was pitch dark and his source of light was gone, he wanted to scream but couldn't find his voice. It was like he was the faceless man now.

Wonwoo woke up, covering in sweat and whimpering. The room was dark and he panicked; his nightmare was following him. He felt his body shaking so violently that he knew one step would bring him to the ground. He wasn't afraid of darkness, but right now if he could wish for something he would bet his life that we would just want light. And it came.

It wasn't any lamp being lighted on. It wasn't any source of illumination. It was the warm embrace he felt when Mingyu told him he would be safe, the soft feeling easing his heart. It was there again and the dark didn't seemed so scary anymore. He took a deep breath and before he could walk out of bed, he heard a voice.

"You need something?" He knew Mingyu was there. It was so obvious.

"Can you turn the lights on?" He didn't heard a response but suddenly everything was bright. "Thank you."

Mingyu was in front of the bed, arms crossed, looking as handsome as Wonwoo remembered.

"Where were you? When a opened my eyes earlier you were gone, I though you just left me in here, wherever we are!" Wonwoo said all at once, feeling less scared and more frustrated.

"I needed to look around."

"Why you couldn't take me with you?" Wonwoo sat straight in the bed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands.

"I needed to see how the things are here. I couldn't risk to take you with me." Wonwoo felt like a burden but kept to himself.

"And what did you found out?"

"Nothing interest." Mingyu sighed and sat at the chair aside from the bed.

"Where are we?"

"Seoul."

"And today is?" He asked, feeling his heart race in his chest.

"March 31th." Wonwoo felt the air run out his lungs. It couldn't be. Yesterday was July 17th, his birthday.

"Which year?"

"1998".

It was like a double kick in his stomach. Wonwoo knew he had nothing but the boy's word but he was a hard believer of whatever the taller said to him now. And he just told him they were 18 years back in time. Wonwoo haven't been born yet, not for the next to years. He was alive in a time he didn't existed.

"Are you okay?" He didn't saw the guy approach but he was now sitting at the end of the bed, eyes glued on him.

"Yes, I think. I... It's just weird." Wonwoo sighed, letting his body fall on the soft mattress.

"You could shower or something, you slept the whole day. Are you hungry?"

"Now that you mentioned." Wonwoo stretched before getting out of bed. He smelled food but decided a shower was more important.

The shower didn't took more than 10 minutes. Wonwoo didn't like the feeling of being alone now. Not when he was 18 years away from home. When he came back to the bedroom, Mingyu was on the same chair, probably the same position as when he left. He smaller took the plate placed in a table by the window and sat on the bed, facing Mingyu.

"You weren't okay when I got here. What happened?" Mingyu took Wonwoo out of guard. He was about to ask all the things he haven't had the chance yet.

"It was just a bad dream." Wonwoo said, while biting his food. He didn't knew if it was because he was starving but just the broccoli on his plate was delicious by himself.

"What kind of dream?"

"One that we don't have to talk about." It wasn't like it was the most horrible dream Wonwoo had ever had, anyways.

"As you wish." Mingyu said.

"You just wandered around the town while I was sleeping?"

"Kind of."

"What did you do? You were looking for something in particular?"

"No, it's just that I wanted to see how different it could be from the Seoul I know."

"Well, I would like to see that too. You could have took me with you."

"Sorry. But I don't know how things work in here, it could not be safe."

"What do you mean?" Wonwoo asked while stuffing food in his mouth.

"Well, as long as you are the only one that can see me, I'm pretty sure everyone else can see you. And you don't belong here so we should be careful about you."

Wonwoo thought about it for a moment. The ghost was right. What if he appeared in a picture or caught someone's attention? 18 years from now he would look the same and if one single little proof of their adventure could exist, it could change everything.

"Does that mean that I'm locked in here? By the way, where is this place?" The smaller didn't like the idea of not being able to get out.

"No, you can go wherever you want, we just need to be careful. And, we're in a house a few miles away from a highway. It's not far from the town, thought."

"It's abandoned?" Wonwoo thought about the place being haunted but considering he was talking with a ghost, it shouldn't scare him.

"I don't really know. I kind of only had the coordinates."

"And how did you get food?" He thought about the taller stealing his dinner and it was a funny concept.

"There's a fridge in the other room with a few things in there." It made sense. Wonwoo haven't got out of the room since they arrived, he didn't knew the surrounds. "Any other question?" Mingyu asked in a playful tone.

"Plenty." Wonwoo answered, honestly. He had some many doubt's.

"It can wait until tomorrow. You should sleep."

"I slept the whole day."

"And should sleep the whole night. We have things to do tomorrow." That caught Wonwoo's attention.

"What things?"

"Tomorrow."

Wonwoo sighed, giving up. Mingyu was really stubborn. The taller got up from his sit, walking towards the door. Wonwoo felt the cold coming back again and panicked.

"Where are you going?" Wonwoo tried to not sound desperate.

"I'll let you sleep." The taller said, turning to face him.

For a second the smaller thought about grab Mingyu by his wrist and stick him in the bed next to him. He was sure he would have a peaceful sleep if the taller was around. But he didn't move. He was never the weak type. He would beat someone's ass if the person ever said to him he would be afraid of sleeping alone.

"C-can you... stay?" Wonwoo said, stuttering. Even gathering all his strength to said those words it still sounded like a whisper. But he knew the taller heard him.

It was embarrassing. How long did they knew each other, two days? Less? And Wonwoo was already dependent of the other boy's presence. He never felt like it. He was never so conscious of anyone or anything. And it didn't make sense. The boy was a ghost, he was not alive. So how could Wonwoo felt so warm around him? That was the feeling with every angel?

Wonwoo blushed. Angel? Mingyu never referred himself as an angel but anyway, it was a word that made sense in the smaller head.

Wonwoo had his head down the whole time. He couldn't face the boy. If they made eye contact he was sure he would try to jump out of the window or die from shame. Mingyu hasn't said anything. He is probably thinking how pathetic I am, Wonwoo thought. The smaller only raised his head when he heard footsteps.

Mingyu was coming back to the chair, right beside him. Wonwoo felt like a truck dropped out of his shoulders. He eyed the boy until he was seated again, any words exchanged. The smaller felt like he should say something but he couldn't find his voice. Instead he just lay down, stuck himself inside the blankets and turn his back to Mingyu.

"Goodnight, Wonwoo." He head the taller said, in a low voice.

Wonwoo couldn't help the shy smile creeping on his face.


	3. Day 3

Wonwoo woke up feeling tired. He spent hours in bed last night trying to fall asleep but couldn't. They were in a peaceful silent that allowed the younger to think. He should demand some answers. He should be the one in control of the situation. It was about his life anyway.

So when he got out of bed, he decided not spare even one question to Mingyu. The boy wasn't in the bedroom so Wonwoo head to the kitchen feeling the smell of eggs. Between all of the things bothering him, the smaller thought about which one he should spurt first. And he decided the obvious.

"Good morning." Mingyu greeted as soon as Wonwoo entered the kitchen.

The place was small, with one lonely window that didn't had much light coming from. The furniture was relatively new, the wooden floor with a few scratches. Wonwoo couldn't help but think that whoever lived here had a pet.

"Good Morning." Wonwoo answered, sitting on the balcony. Mingyu was cooking their breakfast, with the same white clothes and dark hair as the days before. He seemed to be good on it judging by the smell.

Mingyu put one plate in the little table for two in the other side of the kitchen and gestured for Wonwoo to take the chair in front of him.

"Something's bothering you." Mingyu said as soon as Wonwoo sat.

"Glad you noticed." The younger said, taking a bit of the food. It was definitely good.

"Well, you're free to ask me anything." Mingyu said, resting his elbows on the table, gaze fixed on the younger.

"How can you cook?" Wonwoo spurted, really curious. He was a ghost, right? How could he do those things like he were still alive? Every ghost was like this, living normally but invisible and with magical powers? Judging by all the movies Wonwoo had watched, it wasn't supposed to be like this.

Mingyu seemed a little confused by the question. He opened his mouth to answer but closed again.

"Don't take me wrong. It's just that, you can walk through walls, and travel back in time and them you here doing all those things, holding pans and all, but... you seems to avoid touch me." Wonwoo noticed how the taller boy expression darkened a little, a small frown appearing in his face.

That was the thing that was probably upsetting Wonwoo the most. He could ask everything about their mission and he was sure Mingyu would sincerely answer. But he noticed how the boy seemed to think twice before approaching him.

The first night in his room, Mingyu always kept a considerable distance between them. When the taller assured him that step inside that circle would be okay, Wonwoo saw how Mingyu hesitated to touch him or how he never sit to close.

"You're right. I can touch things, hold things, I can even cook breakfast for you. But I don't avoid touch you. I can't touch you. Or any other living being for that matter." Wonwoo was a little taken aback by the look in Mingyu's eyes. It was sad, apologetic. Wonwoo felt the urge to hug him. Mingyu reached for the smaller' hand and Wonwoo felt his hole body shiver. Their hands were 'touching' but he couldn't feel a thing. He tried to interlock their fingers but it was like touching fog. Mingyu slipped through his fingers. "See?"

Mingyu retrieved his hand and Wonwoo felt guilty. It was written all over the older face how much this was bothering him, how eager he was to be able to feel. Before he could say how sorry he was, Mingyu put a smirk on his face.

"That was the thing bothering you?"

The younger then realized how his question may sounded. He may have been a little upset because the boy didn't seem to like his company but he understood the blatantly look on Mingyu's face and felt his own heating up from embarrassment.

"What? No! I... I-its just that... I don't have any contagious disease or something so you can stop avoid me like a plague."

Wonwoo was fast to stuff his mouth with food, and avert look in the taller eyes. If he ever had the intention to sound intimidating then he failed miserably.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. If I could, I wouldn't keep my hands to myself." Mingyu said with a smirk.

Wonwoo couldn't avoid choke on his food even if he knew the latter was mocking him. The younger wasn't familiar with flirting, nor any kind of interaction that had multiple intentions. He shared his first kiss with Soonyoung because both were eager to learn, for Gods sake! Wonwoo never had been eager on having someone by his side so he wasn't constantly looking for mouths to kiss or hands for rooming all over his body. But he could perfectly picture Mingyu's hand holding him and somehow, the thought wasn't as weird as it should have.

"Stop being a ladies man and let's go straight to business." Wonwoo said when he managed to not die.

"Ladies man? That's a first." Mingyu got the glare the other boy was sending him and stopped smiling. "Ok, what do you want to know?"

Wonwoo sighed. He wanted to know everything. He even wanted answers for questions he wasn't aware yet.

"You said we have a week. Why are we here now? Why don't come back the exact moment my soulmate died?"

Wonwoo tried to figure the things by himself but he was stuck on the same place days ago in his room. All he could think about was yes, he was here to save someones life but would he able to do that? Why do they need so much time? It would be that complicated? How could he have faith on himself if the odds seemed to be so against him? Mingyu cleared his throat before answering.

"When I agreed to help you, I was only gifted with so much information. I know a name, and a place. But the rest, how its gonna happen, or when I don't know. So we have to keep and eye on that person so we'll know when the time come. I still don't how we're gonna be able to stop whatever happens but we have a few days to keep on tracking and find a solution."

"What happens next? I mean, after this. What happens when we come back?"

That was the part Wonwoo was the most afraid of. The after.

"You won't remember anything. I guess you're gonna remember the life just the way you lived until now except for the part that you have a partner. You're not a unmarked anymore."

"All my life revolved around me being an unmarked. What am I supposed to remember then?" The boy said with a cold laugh.

"I guess you're have to wait to find out." Mingyu said, almost whispering. "I'm sorry about that shitty part of your life. It's my fault even if indirectly. But we're gonna fix this and you won't even remember everything you had to go through. I promise."

Wonwoo felt like he could grab onto those words and bet his life on them. And he swore by the way Mingyu's hands were rested on his, that the boy would hold them if he could.

___________________________________________________

"Try these."

After lunch, Mingyu told Wonwoo they were going out. The smaller was excited, it was like everything was starting from now on. He was nervous and anxious but at the same time he could bounce on a chair from excitement.

They were in the bedroom and Mingyu was throwing a variety of clothes in the bed. For Wonwoo go out, he should be able to not call attention to himself.

The clothes were really 90's style and Wonwoo was not really confident to walk around in those loose jeans.

"Why can't I just go out with the clothes I'm wearing?" He ask, hesitant.

"Because you should blend in. Dress like everybody else is the first rule." Mingyu said throwing a cap in his face.

Wonwoo pouted but agreed. In the end, he was dressed in those horrible loose jeans, a bland black shirt, cap and a mask. He was just like everybody else in 1998.

They left the house and Wonwoo was surprised to see a few others around. Mingyu explained to him that most of the houses around was empty, the place wasn't the first option to live because of the nearby highway. The noise soon start to bother the peoples and they started to leave.

They walk for around 20 minutes until Wonwoo started to see different tons of colors. The place they were in was most part brown, the trees were dying and the wood houses abandoned. But the houses now had green grass and fences. Most of the houses painted in white or a light blue. Wonwoo liked the pattern. It remembered him home.

He didn't miss his house yet. Or his parents. He wasn't sure how the things were working with them, if they already realized he was missing, how they were dealing with it. Was the police already involved? It had been more than 24 hours. He hoped his parents wasn't really worried. He was okay. He was living the adventure of a lifetime. Maybe it was a little bit selfish, but he wasn't in a rush for the week to end.

Mingyu was walking a few steps ahead of him and that let Wonwoo alone to look close at the boy in front of him. Mingyu was tall, had a beautiful face, a tan skin that was glowing with the sun showering his features. Wonwoo took a like on the boy's smile. His canines were a little prominent and stood out when he laughed, it was one of cutest smiles Wonwoo had ever saw. The first place still belonged to Soonyoung tho. The squishy face would always be Wonwoo's favorite.

The smaller was pulled back to present when he saw Mingyu stop. They were in a street corner, a big house was displayed in front of them. It was one of the biggest Wonwoo had saw until now. It was painted white, with a big black door and a big gate bar in front. The yard was a little messy, it seemed like the owners were building a playground.

"Why are we here?" Wonwoo asked, curious.

"That's your soulmate's house."

Wonwoo looked again. His soulmate must be inside somewhere. Was he in his room? Or at school, who knows? How old must he or she be? There was something he never asked. Was he soulmate a girl or a boy? How older the person was? What was that person name?

More questions. Wonwoo was getting tired of them.

But he wasn't excited for those answers. He should be, tho. He should be dying to take a glimpse of whoever was there waiting for him. But he didn't feel anything.

Mingyu took his time to look at the younger boy face. He was watching carefully, eyes rooming every inch of the house in front of them. He must be looking for him, Mingyu thought.

"C'mon. We can't stay too much. Besides, you're staring like a creepy." Wonwoo could see the smirk disappearing as the taller began to walk again.

"I'm not staring, I'm observing." Wonwoo said a little loud since the other boy was already a few steps ahead.

They agreed to not talk until be safely back in the house. Since he was the only one able to see Mingyu, he would be talking to himself for everyone else's eyes and that would certainly draw the unwanted attention.

Instead of walking the way back, Wonwoo noticed they were going forward. He didn't complained, however. It was great see the difference between that almost two decades could make in a culture.

Everyone dressed different, the cars were different, the way people walked and how they talked. It was like watching the original version of your favorite remake movie. You knew the story, but everything was completely different.

They turned a few corners and streets until they stopped again. The house this time was smaller. The street was full of the same small houses, each one painted in a different color. Nothing seemed out of place, not even a leaf in the pavement.

Wonwoo focused his eyes on Mingyu. He was waiting for an answer but the guy seemed immersed on himself. Something about the scene warmed Wonwoo's heart. He hesitantly reached for the guys fingers, just to be greeted with nothing.

The younger sighed in frustration and that drove Mingyu's attention back to him.

"That's my parents house." He said with a smile.

Wonwoo couldn't avoid the sad smile forming on his lips. How must be the feeling to know that you'll never see your family or anyone you love again? If he could something to change Mingyu's fate he wouldn't think twice.

A noise from across the street caught the boy attention. The front door of Mingyu's house opened and a tall woman went out, with a black bag that seemed like trash in hand. But the thing that caught Wonwoo's eyes was the big belly she was exposing.

He connected the dots just in time to see Mingyu crossing the street, going straight to his mom side. The younger witnessed how the taller eyes never left his mother, his body projecting himself to protect her. Wonwoo could see that, behind the loving gaze the taller was showing, he was frustrated for not being able to talk, or even just hug her for a brief minute.

Wonwoo didn't know what led him to do it, but he was following Mingyu's actions and crossed the street. He knew he should be anonymous but he didn't want to scare the woman in front of him so he put down his mask and fixed his cap so he could show his face as he approached the pregnant woman. Wonwoo saw the way Mingyu's eyes widened when he noticed what he was up to.

With soft steps, Wonwoo reached the taller mom.

"Hi, do you need help?"

The women was carrying the bag to the trash can that was at the end of the street but seemed to he struggling because of her belly.

"Oh, thank you sweetheart."

He took the bag of her hands while offering a bright smile.

"You shouldn't be doing that kind of efforts, Mrs."

"Well, I'm tired of being sit by myself and my feets aren't killing me yet, so I thought a walk could do me some good."

Wonwoo could see how Mingyu resembled his mother. They were both tanned, but while she had a smile on her face, her son face was serious and his eyes could almost burn holes on Wonwoo's body.

"How many months, if I may ask?" Wonwoo asked, trying to make the woman talk more. He was sure Mingyu was enjoying the sound of her voice.

"Already 9. My little boy is coming any moment now." She said while caressing her bump.

Mingyu gave a sad smile that wasn't left unnoticed by the younger.

"Oh, he's kicking."

They were already in the way back after discard the trash. The taller mom took Wonwoo's hands on her own and put in her belly, while giving the boy a breathtaking smile. Wonwoo could feel the soft tuds the baby was making and he couldn't stop but look at the taller boy hovering beside his mom. Mingyu had his eyes craved on his, but the smaller couldn't have a hint of what was running through his mind at the moment.

"It seems like my boy's gonna be a player." She said, already proud.

"I'm sure he's going to be an amazing son." Wonwoo said, sincerely.

"Thank you." She said, stroking his face lovingly.

Wonwoo knew he couldn't extend the encounter anymore. He had already risked everything. They said proper thank you's and goodbyes and as soon as the woman was out of his eyesight he heard Mingyu sighed.

The walk back to the little house was quiet just like the rest of the day, when Wonwoo was left alone until he fell asleep.


	4. Day 4

Mingyu spent the whole night sated down in front of his parents door. It was already early morning, the sky was starting to have a light shade of blue. He walked in a couple of times. His parents were sleeping soundly, his mom always with protective hands around her baby bump. Mingyu knew how much he was loved.

When he was young, around 7, his mom and dad divorced but that didn't stop them to have a good relationship for the sake of their only son. Both of his parents showed him love and respect but he blame himself everyday for not being able to repay them the way they deserved. He knew how much trouble and sacrifices he force into them. His mom gave up her college graduation and his father worked a lot more hours than before so he could have everything he ever asked for and even those things he didn't needed.

When he died 3 months ago, the last thing he remember was thinking about his parents. How sorry he was to infringe that pain on them. He knew he should be more careful, he should be more attentive while he was behind a wheel. But he wasn't and he couldn't regret more. For his parents who did nothing but love and being the best persons he could ever met he just left pain. He owned his life to them, and he couldn't take good care of the only thing that was his own responsibility.

But what was making Mingyu's mind running with no direction was the scene playing over and over in his head.

The moment Wonwoo opened his mouth he felt his head pounding. Why the boy had to be so stubborn? He did exactly the only thing he should avoid. But after the initial shock, everything Mingyu could feel was gratitude. He could see the look in Wonwoo's eyes. He could see the way the younger looked at him, searching for approval in his eyes. He could see how genuinely happy he was to prolong the moment for him. And Mingyu couldn't be angry, no. He couldn't avoid the warm feeling creeping in his heart. He couldn't avoid wanting to be alive again, to embrace Wonwoo in his arms and don't let go.

___________________________________________________ When Mingyu came back around 12pm, Wonwoo was already up. When the taller stepped inside the house, Wonwoo was doing the dishes. He could see a couple of waffles on the balcony and couldn't stop thinking if was for him. He tried to eat once but it didn't had any taste and it seemed like disappeared into his mouth instead of him swallow it. But the thought send a smile to his face.

He knew Wonwoo noticed his presence. He didn't knew what kind of connection was there but they seemed calmer around each other and Mingyu could feel the other boy warmth in a way he didn't feel anyone else's.

Mingyu rested against the fridge, facing Wonwoo. The younger wasn't looking at him. He washed all the remaining dishes and left the kitchen without send a glance in the older direction. Mingyu knew he was upset. He knew about the concerns Wonwoo had about the travel and he left the boy all alone for the whole night. He probably deserved the cold shoulder.

Mingyu sighed and rested his head in the counter. He didn't like to feel conflicted about nothing, especially peoples. He was always the 8 or 80 person. Nothing was left with a what if for him. But he couldn't think straight with the smaller boy in the other room.

The way he seemed fragile and screamed for being taken care of. The way he seemed to be at ease every time Mingyu was around. Every time they locked gaze Mingyu felt that incessant fire in his dead heart. It was like it was beating again.

-

Stepping inside of a room never was so hard.

Even with all the uneasy atmosphere their current situation gave him, Mingyu knew better than keep delaying the inevitable talk. He was yet lost for words, he didn’t knew what to say nor what he wanted to hear. He didn’t knew if he should scold Wonwoo for being reckless or thank the shorter for think about him. But him for sure knew that himself should be sorry. And that was clear as water when he walked into the room and spotted the younger sated in the middle of the bed, looking outside the little window, gaze fixed in the dead trees.

Mingyu locked the door behind him but Wonwoo didn’t moved a finger. The taller leaned against the wooden piece and sighed. He was about to open his mouth when he heard Wonwoo clear his throat, asking for his attention.

“Im sorry.” – The shorter said.

Mingyu wasn’t expecting this. He was the one preparing to say his apologies. For being an asshole who let Wonwoo all by himself when he could feel the other boy insecurities; for give him the cold shoulder in the way back to the house; for how ungrateful he was when he knew about the boy’s good intentions. He should be the one saying sorry.

“I know I screwed up, I know. I know that I probably messed up everything and that you’re upset. I shouldn’t have exposed myself to her but I wasn’t thinking, okay? All I could see was how sad you seemed, and I just did. I would like to hear her voice if I was in your shoes. But I don’t know anything. I don’t know what I’m doing here. Everything keeps getting more and more confused. And I’m not even talking about that fucked up mission, I’m talking about me! I should be happy, right? But i’m not! I’m confused. And my confused mind probably got you into trouble, and I’m deeply sorry. I don’t know if you’re here to keep an eye on me or something and I know I should have followed your orders. If there’s something I can do to fix it, please tell me.”

For the whole time he was vomiting his words out of his heart to Mingyu, the younger kept his head down, playing with his fingers trying to distract himself to not think too much about what was coming out of his mouth. Mingyu noticed the stiffness in his body and walked slowly to the bed, sitting in front of Wonwoo, who put a few inches of distance between them. The taller noticed the boy was avoiding looking him in the eye.

“Look at me” – Wonwoo still was looking at his finger as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. “Wonwoo, look at me” – the taller repeated, in vain. He sighed.

“There’s nothing you should be sorry for. I was still deciding what to say to you, if I should say how reckless you were, and ask you how could you put yourself into trouble even when I gave you all the advices to not to, and you’re worried about me?! I’m not in trouble, and I’m not here to keep an eye on you. I’m here to help you, to do my best to protect you. And at the end, I felt the one being protected yesterday”- Mingyu knew his words were dripping with adoration but couldn’t avoid. “And I am the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t let you alone yesterday, I shouldn’t let you all by yourself to give room for this thoughts to creep into your mind. I’m thankful for what you’ve done. My mom was my world and growing up with her voice soothing me to sleep is one of my most vivid memories. Being able to hear it once again was one of the most extraordinary things that has ever happened to me. And that was because of you. Don’t ever feel sorry or regretful, please. You didn’t do nothing wrong. If it’s going to be consequences, I’m sure we can deal with it. Thank you, Wonwoo.”

Mingyu kept staring at the boy in front of him until their eyes finally met. And the shy smile playing in the corner of the younger boy’s mouth gave him a recent well known feeling in his insides.

“I would give up on so many things in my past life just to be able to hug you right now.” – Mingyu said sincerely, and the smile on the smaller boy face could light up the world today.

“I can’t think of nothing better.”


	5. Day 5

Life is hard. Love sucks. And Wonwoo learned that in the most bittersweet way.

_Hugs were something Wonwoo wasn’t used to receive. Or give. The affection that that brief exchange of warmth could bring was something he didn’t knew he craved until he couldn’t have. Where to put his need for it them, how to get ride of that screaming need of an embrace he knew he would never be able to feel?_

_But Wonwoo knew better than to hold onto it. It wasn’t health. It didn’t belonged to him, it never did. The effortless increasing speed of his heartbeat when Mingyu gave him a smile or how he could just say the most meaningful things like it was nothing just made the short male doubted if he wasn’t  born without a soulmate for a reason._

_Wonwoo had two theories. Theory one is that since he wasn’t born with someone predestined to him it would be just as normal if anyone else – even those who had been compromised since birth – gave him feelings as normal as the ones he was feeling for Mingyu. Fall for someone should not be hard. Even if the peoples in their new world were deprived of that choice, of that possibility to fall or not fall, to try not love; it wouldn’t be hard to fall for Mingyu. It shouldn’t be conflicted. And the theory number two is that he was a terrible person. For that one he didn’t need to think too much. It was just this. He didn’t felt like he should be faithful and hold fidelity to someone he didn’t even met of course, but he should be trying to think about how life would turn out for them. How his pathetic and boring life would be just as pathetic and boring but with someone else to be miserable with him. He should be looking forward to the day, in a few years from now (or in a blink of eye; since he wasn’t sure how he would come home after this) in which he would ran into that person and his soulmated body would respond him in the way it does with everyone else._

_But he was scared. How would it feel? It would be something like he was feeling now, when he didn’t felt like averting his eyes from Mingyu and how he could possibly hear every single word that humanity have ever invented if Mingyu was the one telling him them? He wished yes. But if this was the only time he would be able to feel this genuine  overwhelming necessity for someone, he was glad it was Mingyu._

_That’s why he asked. If that storm of feelings was fall in love, he would like to have this with his soulmate. He would like to feel like he felt with Mingyu._

_“You had a soulmate, right?” Wonwoo asked, a few hours after Mingyu came back, while they were laid in the fluffy carpet in the small living room, side by side._

_“Yes, I did.” Mingyu’s voice was soft, Wonwoo could tell a smile was playing in his lips even if he wasn’t looking._

_“How was it? I mean, when you met. How was the moments you spent together?”_

_“I spend 1 year and 5 months with Minghao. When I think back now, I think how lucky I was to meet him. He is the most caring and genuine person I have ever known. To be honest, before I found him I thought something was wrong with me. You see, I met him when I was 17, so I supposed that after my 16 th birthday my countdown should have progressed well, right? But it was stucked, it didn’t moved for months. I knew I had to do something, I couldn’t just stay still and watch my life pass and grow older waiting for some random person to fall on my lap. I started to go to different places, trying to meet new people. But nothing seemed to work, sometimes the countdown even backed off, it was nerve-racking. But then, one day out of the blue my dad had this business trip to make and he invited me to go with him. And I did. We went to China and since he was there for business matter and I don’t speak mandarin at all, we hired a guide so I could go visit the country in the week we would be spending there. And when I realized I had just met my world. When the guide appeared on my door, I just lost and found everything at the same time. Minghao is the most adorable person I have ever laid my eyes on. He made everything seems good. When I laid my eyes on his, I swear I could feel my heart exploding and another one was put in to replace. And I knew it was his heart. We managed to be together for a month in China then he moved to Korea to live with some relatives. My time with him was short but was our little piece of forever.”_

_“You seem to really love him.” Wonwoo said, trying to disguise the lump in his throat._

_“I didn’t.”_

_The answer caught Wonwoo of guard. Yes, he didn’t knew a thing about love but the way Mingyu’s words were full of admiration and passion while talking about the Chinese guy seemed pretty much like it._

_“You didn’t?”_

_“I don’t think we are capable to love. What we have is something different. We can’t help it, it’s natural, like breathe. We don’t have that ability anymore. Everytime I read about love, it’s something that you build little by little. Just like with our friends, we can love them. We can slowly trust them and develop those feelings for them as times pass. But everything with our soulmates it’s blind. It’s this blind need and this blind peace and this calm heart. I would never forget the way I felt when I met Minghao. It was the most intense feeling that has ever crossed me, it was most intense then death. But I don’t think I’ve felt like in those old books. I just knew he should be by my side and should never leave. I just knew that everything we had was there to happen and should happen because he was mine. We belonged together and nothing could break this. I’m dead and I still belong to him.”_

_______________________________________________

 

_I’m dead and I still belong to him._

Those words were imprinted Wonwoo’s mind for the whole night, while he tossed in bed, trying to fall asleep in vain. Mingyu was there, sated in the same chair as in his first night but not even his presence calmed the smaller boy’s heart. He dozed off a few times throught the night but he knew he haven’t slept a whole couple of hours.

He was thinking too hard. Feeling too much. Mingyu didn’t believed in love but it didn’t matter. Wonwoo would never be able to love him and he knew he could never compete with this Minghao guy. It wasn’t love, Mingyu was right. It was so much hard then that.

Wonwoo knew Mingyu had left the house a few minutes ago. The older didn’t gave him goodbye, or told him where he was going, Wonwoo didn’t even heard the door closing. He just felt. He felt the absence of him. And that was driving him crazy because he could feel it. He could feel how he was slowly falling, bit by bit, how he was step by step closer to the edge of being stuck forever with all the love he would never be able to give. Nothing could prepare him for this. No one could warn him that it would be this dangerous. He had a whole life to live ahead of him and here we was, fighting to hold back the need of having someone around.  

Mingyu and him shared the same belief about love, Wonwoo thought. But when one didn’t believed it was something real, the latter could feel it in his bones. Wonwoo had read about love just like Mingyu did because he was indeed curious. He could remember every emotion transcribed in those yellowish pages of a few worn out books that survived throught time. And he knew when he heart was ready, Wonwoo wouldn’t put up a fight to admit to himself that he wanted to live a life with a dead person. How insane that could be?

But Wonwoo had one last hope. He hoped to not remember anything about those days just like Mingyu said. To not remember about the breathtaking smile the taller had, and his jet black hair, and his golden skin, and the way his eyes shined when the sun met them. He hoped not be able to remember the sound of his voice and the feeling of his presence. He hoped he could not remember anything about the person he wanted to be the only in his mind.

-

When Mingyu came back latter that day, Wonwoo was a lot more calm, his heart had already settled. He was just about to grab something to eat when Mingyu rushed him outside, saying they had to go somewhere. They went to the same streets they had the day before, until Wonwoo found himself in front of a familiar place he remembered to be his soulmate’ house. When he was just about to ask Mingyu why he dragged him to there again he saw a movement.

The scene was quit familiar. A pregnant woman coming out of the front door exposing a big belly.  But this time the women didn’t had a trash bag in her hand, she was bidding goodbye to a tall man, who kissed her forehead and crouch down to pet her bump before turn his back and rushed to a car. But different from Mingyu’s mom, this woman was short, had a small face and beautiful features, her hair as long and black and her skin was pale. The bump almost seemed out of place in her tiny figure. Wonwoo could notice a few things about the man before he left. He was tall probably a head smaller than Mingyu, just like himself. Tanned than the woman and with the hair a few shades clearer than the hers, the man was as beautiful as the lady on the front door.

“They’re his parents. And that’s him.” Mingyu said, in a whispered voice.

Him. It was a boy after all. But Wonwoo couldn’t see anyone beside the now lonely woman, watching until the car disappeared on the street. He was trying to see behind her, see if he was missing a blind spot, a little person hugging his mom legs but there was no one. Just the woman and her baby bump.

That was when he realized.

There was his soulmate. In his mom’s belly. Just like Mingyu, he was yet to be born.


	6. Day 6

Tic Toc. Tic Toc. Tic Toc.

Wonwoo couldn’t stop walking on circles. Things weren’t to be this complicated. But it turned into something more than the chance of mess with futures and lives and a lifetime of bullshit. It became a heart condition.

It was easy to understand a few things once he "saw" his soulmate, but nothing really prepared Wonwoo for what was about to come.

Life had been a box full of surprises for the 16th year old Wonwoo since he met Mingyu. He was dragged into a complicated, full of twists and questions adventure to fix his own life, and at the end of the day, all he managed to do was fall for the wrong person.

Mingyu had been the solid rock Wonwoo leans since they met and the growing feelings the younger had could not be predicted nor stopped. It wasn't something planned, just like love always tend to be. Stubborn, problematic and unrequited love that had brought nothing but a hole in an already bruised heart.

Since he came back from his soulmate address, with Mingyu right beside him but keeping the same body distance - even if he was indeed, unreachable - they were awkward. Something in the atmosphere was not right and as soon as Mingyu left again, whispering an "I'll be right back", Wonwoo couldn't stop thinking. Learn that his soulmate was in the same position as Mingyu made him feel uncomfortable.

His soulmate didn't even get the chance to properly exist. To meet the world and claim him with his own eyes and bare little hands. He died before even live. And that messed with Wonwoo's conviction of everything. He was unmarked because of one specific moment, in an specific time, with specific people who led to the death of a destiny. And when whatever happened happens again, Wonwoo was more than ready to give that mother the son she deserved - and give himself his only chance to be complete, even if everything he wanted he could never have.

But he wasn't counting on this.

Wonwoo wasn't ready for Mingyu slowly walking into the bedroom, passing straight through him, and sitting in the same chair as the days before but with one remarkable difference. He really seemed dead this time.

The smaller wasn't used to the kind of look on Mingyu's face. The taller always seemed to have an bright aura and glow evolving him and seeing him retracted, with a black cloud above his head was a foreign image that broke Wonwoo's heart.

The boy walked until the male sited in the chair was only a few small steps away from him, and kneeled until their eyes could found each others. And Wonwoo smiled.

A sad smile that didn't reached his eyes. A smile that could never convey how his heart screamed at the sight of his loss. He knew that somewhere in between the last 24 hours since they stepped out of their current home and this moment when Mingyu returned, after being left by himself, he had lost him. He lost something he would never be able to have but it hurt. So much.

After a short breath, Wonwoo found his voice to ask. "What happened?", he said fighting the need to look for the familiar but still unknown hands to hold on.

Mingyu tried his best to look unfazed by the time he answered, Wonwoo notice, almost an whole minute after the question.

"I learnt a few things about tomorrow".

Tomorrow was the D-day. The end and the beginning. Wonwoo didn't knew of which he was most scared of.

"What did you learn?" Wonwoo asked, while sitting on the ground, eyes never leaving Mingyu.

"It's gonna happen at dawn, about 5am." Mingyu said, inexpressive. The smaller remained quiet, waiting for more information. "It's not going to be really hard, we just have to change the order of the things".

"What order? How exactly it's gonna happen?" Wonwoo asked, anxious.

"From where our mother's reside there is only one road to the center of the city, where it's the nearest hospital. Your soulmate's mom isn't suppose to give birth until a few months but she is going to got into labor at dawn, cause she will be involved in an accident. My mom is suppose to be going at the hospital at the same time due the date predict to my birth, that is tomorrow". Mingyu took a deep breath before say the next sentence, that shoot an arrow through Wonwoo's heart.

"We just have to change the order. My mom have to be the one involved in the accident"

Wonwoo didn't realized he was holding his breath until he felt his lungs begging for air. What was Mingyu saying? He was freely putting him and his mom in danger, knowing everything could go wrong, just like it was for his soulmate?

"No, we definitely not gonna do this".

Wonwoo was up in a second, with a terrified expression on his face. Mingyu just sighed, but remained sat.

"It's not really hard, Wonwoo. We just have to delay his mom until the accident happens, after this everything will work out".

"What about your mom?" Wonwoo asked, his voice raising an octave. Mingyu seemed really calm to be the person Wonwoo saw a few days ago, who talked about his mother with devotion.

But Mingyu didn't answered. He was staring at Wonwoo, blankly. It was like his eyes were just holes, filled with void. Wonwoo felt a shiver run through his body and lost his breath for a moment. His speculations about the end of this conversation weren't one of the bests.

"Mingyu, what about you and your mom?". The younger voice was harsh but cracked at the end, revealing the fear inside of him to hear the answer.

Mingyu got up, seemed upset. He walked until the both of them were face to face, Mingyu being a head taller than Wonwoo. But the younger wasn't intimidated, he wasn't scared of Mingyu, no! He was scared at the thought of being put to choose something he wasn't ready.

"We came here to save him, Wonwoo. Why are you asking so many questions?" The taller voice was low, dripping with anger. "Why you care so much?"

"I can't do this". Wonwoo said in a whisper, turning his back to Mingyu, unable to look at his eyes for another moment.

If before he saw nothing but empty space, now he was greeted with despair. Mingyu was putting up his defenses, trying to lead both of them to the easiest path. But nothing is easy anymore, Wonwoo had already fall.

"It's not up to you. You don't decide who lives and who dies. You just have to do what you came here for."

Still with his back turned to Mingyu, Wonwoo managed to answer after some deep breaths, "I came here to change my future, I didn't came to ruin yours"

"I already had my chance, Wonwoo. I lived the life I was supposed to. It his time to do it now. Your time."

"That's bullshit. You lived 18 years of your life, you spend a couple of years with your soulmate and died regretting a bunch of things you were not able to do! That's the life you were supposed to live?"

They were face to face again, Wonwoo spiting all his frustration on the taller. That wasn't supposed to be that way. Why he couldn't save both?

"It doesn't matter, you shouldn't be questioning this!" Mingyu's expression was confused, like he had missed half of the movie. "You were so excited to come here and meet him! Save him, live the life you are supposed to and be grateful!"

"Why can't we save both? Why does someone have to die? Why you didn't told me this sooner?" Wonwoo was almost screaming.

"We can't exist together. One can't live while the other is alive."

Wonwoo gave him a lifeless laugh, "Don't throw that Harry Potter bullshit on me! I don't care who said that, I don't care who think it's a good idea choose between two peoples lives but I won't choose".

"It's already decided". Mingyu said, sighing.

The taller looked tired, hopeless. But Wonwoo wasn't the type to go down without a fight, and he wouldn't give up on Mingyu, he promised that to himself.

"By who? God? I'm sure he's not that ruthless". Wonwoo said, a sad tone filling Mingyu's ears, making the taller flinch.

"I don't know who decide what. There's just this voice in my head giving me orders".

"Well, I hope them, whoever they are, are listening now. Cause I won't you kill you to save him."

"Then what you intended to do?"

"We going to change the order of the things."

 


	7. Day 7

Today.

There is no turning back now. There's no room for fear and mistakes anymore. Decisions and misunderstandings should be in the past. Everything Wonwoo and Mingyu needed now was to act together. As one. They could not make any mistakes, they could not hesitate. But they were completely lost.

It was midnight. They had 5 hours until the course of their lives start to be decided - again.

Wonwoo was irreducible. Mingyu was tired. They were on the edge of a huge and dangerous abyss of selfness and regrets. One could not let the other win. Mingyu should follow orders, Wonwoo was there to break them all.

Wonwoo promised himself he would do everything in his hands to give Mingyu a second chance and he was a man of his words. But he didn't thought it would imply so many things, so many wrongs and the heavy duty of being the one to decide. He wanted to save both - he would save them. But he didn't knew how. How could he have both of them alive? What would be the consequences? Wonwoo had already broke down so many rules he wasn't afraid of it anymore. But he should think.

_Think, Wonwoo. Think._

The hourglass was running out of time and someone would be buried at the end of the line. Think, Wonwoo.

-

Stupidness. Stubbornness. He wasn't the Superman. He couldn't save the world. Why Wonwoo had to be so thoughtful? Why he had to be so committed to his own beliefs? How could he effortlessly play with a dead heart like that? Why should he make Mingyu wanted to live again just to stay by his side, to be able to see and share every day that fearless will to live? Mingyu should accept his destiny with a smile on his face. He knew since the beginning that he was the left out. He was the intruder in that story that didn't had the chance to began. And he was screwing it up. He was the reason why Wonwoo was divided, fearful, scared. He was the one in the middle again. He shouldn't be happy about it. But he was.

Only the sharp inhales of air could be heard in the deafening silence of the room. The dim light from the table lamp was the only thing conveying each side of that unpredictable duo to see each other. They were face to face, it was a silent dare. Both were trying to decipher each other intentions and at the same time both were lost in their own thoughts. Both boys were aware of the importance of those lost minutes but none of them wanted to be the one to give the first step. Getting up meant the end. They were not ready for it.

Giving one last tired sigh, Mingyu knew their time was running out, "I can't let you do this".

"Do what?" Wonwoo said, sincerely. He didn't had a clue of what to do. He spend hours locked inside his own head, trying to come up with a solution but nothing seemed reasonable. He needed help, someone to make him think outside the box. He needed Mingyu but the boy was the North while he was the South.

"Whatever is on your mind. I wish I could, I really do. I wish I could just go with the flow of whatever you're planning but there would be consequences. And I can't let nothing happen to you".

Wonwoo felt bad, selfish. He wanted to believe he was doing this for Mingyu but the big truth is that he was being his stubborn self more than ever now because he had hope. He hoped to bump with Mingyu in some street, in some rainy day, and fell in love all over again. Just as fast and unpredictable like now. He wanted to fall right on the spot even if Mingyu couldn't be there to catch him. It was selfish to want someone to live just so you can love them? Maybe. It was painful to know that it would always be a one sided love? Yes. But Wonwoo was used to be the one without a pair.

Pair. Two. Something to complete. The puzzle of life's the world had become would be complete if just Wonwoo stick with the plan. Of course he intended to save his soulmate; it was his main goal. But even if he woke up next morning not remembering a single thing about all of this, he would only be in piece knowing he didn't had to kill somebody else's hopes and dreams and future just so he could have his. He may not remember Mingyu in the morning but the boy wouldn't be resting in piece because of him.

"I'm sorry to cause you all this trouble" Wonwoo said, slowly approaching Mingyu. He had a shadow of a sad smile on his face, something that was hiding much more than a simple I'm sorry. "I've told you this before, when we met your mom, but I truly regret if I ever made the things hard for you by being impulsive. I know that you don't agree because that's not what you came here for but I can't let this happen. I can't be responsible for your bad ending because I don't want you to have one. I want you to live life as its fullest, I want you to experience all the things you're giving me the chance to. I don't care about the consequences as long as you're okay".

Wonwoo was touched with how much MIngyu cared for him. May be because his duties with him or because he started to consider Wonwoo as a friend, but the way the taller showed his concern for Wonwoo warmed the younger' heart.

Mingyu gave one step forward just so he and Wonwoo could be inches apart, "I've already told you I don't have any obligations here. I'm here because of you and only you. And I'm such a fan of your courage, I admire you so much. But you're not going to remember me" Mingyu said, with a broken smile. "It's beautiful that you care so much about the others, you truly has a golden heart. But it's not worth it. You won't have a second chance and you may be risking everything for something that'll not be important in your future".

"But you're important now". And you'll still be important, was left unsaid. "Not just for me. You're already important to your parents, and whoever is going to love you in the future".

"So it's him".

"I know", Wonwoo said in a whisper. "I know that! And I swear I'm trying my best but I can't do this by myself. I need your help".

"I can't". Mingyu said, bringing his hands to his head. He was fighting the need to give in to whatever was Wonwoo's wishes.

"You can!" Wonwoo reached to grab Mingyu's hands just to stop middle way; he forgot he couldn't. They exchanged a meaningful look before Wonwoo drawback his hands. "You can. I can see in your eyes that you don't want this as much as I don't. Please, Mingyu".

If Mingyu was on the verge of giving up just by the sight of a troubled Wonwoo, when the boy pleaded he knew he would do whatever he could to make him happy. It may sound ironic for someone who didn't believed in love given the world they lived in, but Mingyu judged that moment as that point when you realize you fell for someone.

"When I first appeared in your bedroom I never thought you could be this fearless. I can't believe the boy standing in front of me is the same boy who was frightened to step inside that circle a week ago" Mingyu said, a lovingly smile on his face.

But Wonwoo didn't notice the change on the taller boy tone or attitude. Something clicked inside his mind. The circle.

If they're standing in that room, having a conversation 18 years back from the present they lived in, it was thanks to the circle drawn on Wonwoo's bedroom floor. He didn't knew how but that drawing allowed them to travel back in time.

"That's it", Wonwoo said with a hopeful smile on his face. "We need the circle".

Mingyu was confused, "What? What for?" He couldn't follow Wonwoo's line of thinking.

"You draw it to bring us back here, right? You can draw it again to take us back to our current time".

"Why?" The things were doing less and less sense for Mingyu.

Wonwoo was anxious and craving for Mingyu to understand his logic as soon as possible. "Look, nothing changed yet, right? We still have around 5 hours until the deadline. It's like we've never been here, we didn't interfered in anything yet. So in the future - our future, everything's still the same. You said it's going to be an accident. Someone died there so probably had a repercussion, something published on a newspaper. We just need to go there and get that information. If we find out who is the person who'll cause the accident, we may stop it to ever happen!"

It made sense. Much more sense than what Wonwoo had expected when the thought crossed his mind. Putting into words made it seems as something reasonable. If Wonwoo was scared a minute ago, now he was excited. He found a way to have them both. Screw his selfness, he had never been this happy before.

But he didn't had the reaction he expected. Mingyu wasn't bright as he was. He seemed thoughtful, like he was weighing the pros and cons. Wonwoo waited impatient until Mingyu finally spoke what was on his mind.

"I don't know if it'll work. It's not like a have a special power or something. I don't know if I can make it work this time", he said carefully, trying not to disappoint Wonwoo that much. It was a brilliant idea if just they had any guarantee of success.

"Let's just try, please". Wonwoo was almost jumping in excitement. Not even the possibility of failing crashed his hopes. He was just so sure it would work.

"Okay, but it one condition". Mingyu said, hesitant.

"Anything".

"You stay here".

____________________________________________

It's been 2 hours since Mingyu left.

It was like a slap on Wonwoo's face. A bucket of cold water right on his head. He tried to argue, but it was in vain. Your safety comes first, no matter what, Mingyu said. But Wonwoo didn't felt safe, not when Mingyu wasn't around. Not when they were 18 years apart. It wasn't reasonable for Wonwoo to feel insecure and afraid of being alone; He wasn't a baby locked inside a car, he could survive a couple of hours by himself. But he was afraid of the uncertain. There were a plentiful of what if's that could make everything goes wrong. The what if's with him in 1998 and the what if's with Mingyu in 2016.

Wonwoo never wanted this. He never planned this to happen. In his head, they were going together. In his head he would be with Mingyu until the dead end, until the point he couldn't avoid being apart anymore. But Mingyu had to be stubborn. Wonwoo knew it was a flawed plan, Mingyu may not return with the information they needed and the hours wasted could cost someone's life. Mingyu may not return at all. And that was worst than fail to save him.

All the worries about the circle work or not vanished the moment Mingyu disappeared in front of Wonwoo's eyes. But the moment he left Wonwoo, the younger's mind started to work for the bad. What if they, whoever they are, planned for the plan to work? What if Wonwoo was trying to challenge a power he couldn't put up a fight with? What if Mingyu never made to comeback to him? What if Mingyu never reached his destiny? Where could he be?

Wonwoo was restless, walking back and forth in the room. The hours never passed so slow. He knew he should be thinking in a backup plan, he knew he should still be focused, but everything his mind was able to process was Mingyu's name, like a mantra. But the minutes were passing, the tic toc of the clock was driving Wonwoo crazy. Another 30 minutes. Alone.

Wonwoo didn't knew how, but he could feel Mingyu around. It was like a wave of peace and calmness hit his body, he felt at easy every time the taller was present. And that feeling disappeared when they were apart, it was like a hole was open on Wonwoo's stomach every time Mingyu left. The tiny fog of a good dizziness changed to a heavy cloud of thin air. It was hard to breath without him. It was hard to breath for almost 3 hours.

But then Wonwoo took a deep breath. It was like all the air stuck inside the room finally run through his lungs, and his body felt lighter. His heart skipped a beat and he never anticipated something so much. He could feel even before see him. Mingyu was there.

Wonwoo followed his instincts that led him to the kitchen. He spotted Mingyu with his back turned to him and sighed in relief. They had spent more time apart before, but nothing like this. It was like every minute had been prolonged to hours, 3 hours felt like 3 years but they finally saw each other again.

Even before their eyes met, Wonwoo was preparing himself. He had his arms crossed, like a shield. It was a defensive position, he was shielding his body from crumbling. He knew the power the older boy had over him and it may seem like a overreaction but he had already started to break. Mingyu slowly turned around and their eyes met.

It was strong as he thought it would be. But it was softer. It was like the relief was from both parts, Wonwoo thought. And it was, indeed. But they couldn't uttered those words. They couldn't expose something so broken. But the relief, oh the relief.

"I thought I would never see you again" Wonwoo tried to sound playful but failed miserably. He could just sound grateful.

"I'm sorry", Mingyu whispered.

"Don't do that anymore", Wonwoo said almost for himself. He knew he shouldn't be saying those kind of things, it would only weaken both of them.

And Mingyu cursed himself for not be able to answer. He couldn't promise something like that. Because he would disappear at the morning, and they would never see each other again.

And the silent in the room was louder than any noise. They weren't oblivious, they could see each others feelings written all over their faces. They could see how they were screaming for each other. They could hear all the things they would never be able to tell each other because they were not mean to be. How unfair life could be sometimes, right? How could you find love in such a short amount of time just to loose it just as fast? They would never know the feeling of how would be being in each others arms even if just for a minute.

And they could just smile as if nothing happened. Pretend like nothing was there was the best way to keep going. They still had 2 hours and 2 lives to save.

"I found".

____________________________________________

His name is Han Seong-su.

He was going to work at 5:03 of that 6th April of 1998, 18 years ago.

He will be going to work at 5:03 at 6th April of 1998, today. 1 hour and 2 minutes from now.

Mingyu came back with two information's. His name and the model of his car, a white Fiat. Both boys were now on the streets, walking nervously trying to find the man only Mingyu knew the face thanks to the old newspaper he managed to find in the library, or the car who was just like at least other 3 they saw parked at garages they passed by but with a different license plate.

The boys decided the best thing to do was check all the places they could pass by in their way to the highway. They didn't had a backup plan, only counting on find the said man before was too late. For the last 30 minutes, luck wasn't on their side.

Or the last 20.

Wonwoo felt like he was about to pass out when he saw a familiar car. Not the one he wanted but one of those be should protect. As soon as his soulmate's dad's car passed by them, both boys exchanged a terrified look. And they started to run like their lives depended on how fast their legs could move. And for one of them, it may be.

They had 17 minutes and no clue of where Han Seong-su could be.

The night could be one of the most beautiful' Wonwoo had ever saw as he was running out of breath on the streets of Seoul. While on their way to the cursed place, the smaller boy could see the starts perfectly. It seemed like they were shining brightly than he ever saw. It may be true when people say that the night is darker just before the dawn. And the dawn was coming to hunt or save Wonwoo for life.

The small male just stopped running when he heard his name being called from afar. He looked around and noticed he was alone, Mingyu had stopped a few meters before him. He went to the taller boy encounter and noticed a white car parked in a gas station. They exchanged a hopeful look and went to check the license plate. Wonwoo almost cried when they - finally - coincided.

"What do we do now?" Mingyu asked, while Wonwoo was trying to catch his breath.

The latter didn't had time to answer before being blinded by a headlight. Mingyu eyes suddenly widened and he muttered a scared _"it's my mom"_. Wonwoo felt a jolt of adrenaline rush through his body when he looked at the clock; 3 minutes. They could already hear the sound of cornets and motors. Han Seong-su was finishing filling his tank. Wonwoo did not had time to think in a fancy way to stop him. He looked around for what could save a life. He found a steel rebar laying lonely at the other side of the street. Wonwoo didn't stop to think that, unlike Mingyu, he was pretty much visible. So everyone around - Mingyu, the gas station employee, and Han Seong-su - were able to see when him, using all his mighty, pierced 2 out of the 4 tires on Seong-su's car. If he wasn't desperate he would have known better than that. He would probably had asked Mingyu to do the job once he was invisible; or he would just run after the first 2 tires, not trying to pierce the rest. But he needed to be sure he would avoid it. He would break the entire car if he had to. When he was about to pierce the 3rd tire someone grabbed his arm. He could hear another one screaming for the police somewhere while he was being dragged away from the car. But the touch was foreign, pissed. He was definitely in trouble.

And the hole in his stomach came back. Mingyu wasn't around. Wonwoo felt like a cockroach under the feet of a giant. His mind was trying to process everything at the same time only leaving him with a headache. Mingyu was gone, he was going to be arrested and the clock read 5:05am. Two minutes after the time of the accident. Maybe that's why Mingyu's gone, Wonwoo thought regretful. He didn't had the chance to say goodbye.

But in a second he was free. The fierce grip was gone and his peace came back. His eyes landed straight on Mingyu's and something there was different. **Liveliest**.

Mingyu muttered a silent run and pointed the direction with his finger. Wonwoo complied with heavy steps. Mingyu asked him to run away from the scene, away from the highway. He was going to a barely illuminate street, and Mingyu wasn't coming along. He could see bright red lights from afar and his heart sank. It could be an ambulance, something went wrong and he wasn't able to save anyone.

Wonwoo felt fat tears rolling down his cheeks and he fell on the ground, letting the maddening pound on his head take place. His sobs were loud enough to bother anyone around but he was alone. Lonely.

He couldn't see Mingyu around but could still feel him there somewhere. But it was different, heavier. It was suffocating him.

"Get up, you have to go", Mingyu's voice said getting closer.

Wonwoo was startled by the sudden presence.

"W-what?" Wonwoo slowly started to get up, cleaning his hands on his jeans. "What happened?"

Mingyu was busy doing something in the ground, in his hands something similar to a rock. He finished in seconds, looking hurried.

"Step inside". His voice was clear as water and Wonwoo felt his legs shaking.

The same circle he used to arrive was drawed on the hard ground. The tears filled Wonwoo's eyes once again. He knew what that meant.

"N-no. I... What happened with him? And you?" Wonwoo wanted to scream at him. He was frustrated and scared and Mingyu wasn't answering his questions.

"Just go", Mingyu screamed. Wonwoo recoiled at the harsh sound of his voice. "They're after you. You're so reckless!" Mingyu gave two steps forward while Wonwoo gave one step behind. The taller noticed the defensive step and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Its just... You could have been more careful. You know that, right?" Wonwoo nodded. "But you were great. I'm proud of you".

"How's everyone? How's your mom?"

"Get in, Wonwoo. You really have to go".

Mingyu's voice was softer now. Wonwoo felt lifeless. This is it. He needed to go.

"I can't leave you", Wonwoo finally said in a whisper, his heart beating on his ears.

Wonwoo's heart broke one last time when Mingyu remained silent.

The smaller brunette walked to the circle with small, heavy steps. He passed next to Mingyu and felt a shiver running through his body, a warm presence embracing him. He put one foot inside the circle and just as he was about to put the other, he felt a hand enfold his. It was brief, sudden and ended to soon. But he knew.

"Goodbye, babe".

Wonwoo put the other foot inside the circle and the hand disappeared. Mingyu's hand was just like he imagined: big, warm, soft and inviting. And no matter what had happened or what was going to happen in the imminent future, Mingyu was going to be okay.

____________________________________________

Wonwoo woke up alone in his room on 18th of July of 2016.


	8. Epilogue

There's beauty in every single thing on life.

Its beautiful how the flowers blossom on the spring. How the snow falls in tiny and thin flakes in the winter, painting the world white. Its beautiful how a simple good morning from a stranger in the street can put a smile on someone's face. Its beautiful how a mother gives birth to a child and the cycle of life continues going on and on until none of us here today are here anymore. Its beautiful how love can strike fast and take someone out of their feet. Its beautiful how love can change a life.

Love is beautiful. Love is scary and unpredictable. Love is not a simple equation when you don't know anything about maths. Love is everything Wonwoo ever craved for.

Love is everything Wonwoo wished he had never found.

It was hard to open his eyes again. Hard because he was completely aware of where he was.

Because he was alone.

The deal was to not remember anything. But he did, Wonwoo remembered every single moment.

He remembered Mingyu.

That wasn't supposed to happen. There was a time in which he wished for it, indeed. Wonwoo craved for never forget a single moment of the most amazing experience he knew someone could ever live. But when the time came and all he could remember was Mingyu’s face, and smile, and hair, and that cursed last moment… He just wished to forget. Forget about everything because it changed, Wonwoo knew everything changed. He could see the difference. It came in a black stamp in his right wrist.

His mark was there, 1000 days and counting. It had worked after all. He was destined to meet his soulmate, whoever he is, sometime in the future. The future he was scared of, a future where he could not predict or be happy about. His destiny was stuck in the past and the consequences of it could be a lifetime of an empty and loveless life.

It was not like Wonwoo would reject his soulmate or would not give them a chance. He would, with all his mighty, try to love the boy. But it would not be the same. He could bet his head in a silver tray that what he felt for seven days could not be duplicated. First love just happens once and last forever.

After waking up, Wonwoo started to look for whatever could indicate that a big change had happened. But everything was the same. Even the presents he received for his birthday were still in a corner of his room, untouched. His parents were the same, but they now talked about how excited he must be to meet his soulmate once he had turned 16. Wonwoo could just nod and fake a smile, trying his best to act like he was the happiest person in the world. His friends were the same, even the last addition, that Joshua guy, Jeonghan’s soulmate. He seemed to be a good guy, with the same lame sense of humor Wonwoo had. He knew they would blend in no time and was happy for Jeonghan. They teased him about his imminent soulmate and Wonwoo could just smile. He wasn’t in the mood for being friendly, he was suffering from his first heartbreak. And no one would never know about it.

The first night came in a blink of an eye. Wonwoo had spent the entire day locked in his own cloud of pity and even if he tried to act like everything was okay in front of everyone, Soonyoung had notice his dark aura. He even joked Wonwoo was suffering from PSS, the pre soulmate syndrome. Even being the joker he is, Soonyoung gave Wonwoo a warm and comforting smile, and even if Wonwoo could never tell him the real reason for his broken smiles, he would always be a shoulder to cry on.

The dreams came in no time.

They were a mix of the past and the present, giving Wonwoo the information he missed about his own life. They were flashbacks of what changed in the boy’s life since he wasn’t an unmarked anymore. It was like he was a bystander watching the course of his own life being mold. The dreams didn’t had anything substantial, just the simple lack of insults and glares. His life were pretty much the same, only the future reserving him the biggest surprise he was not ready for.

The second night came after a long and boring day, in which Wonwoo thought he had seeing Mingyu twice on the streets. Everybody looked at him like he was crazy as he ran for an unknown person in the streets just to be greeted with unfamiliar eyes who didn't had any effect on his like Mingyu's.

If the dreams of his first night were about what he not remember, the second night brought his most vivid memories.

Mingyu was pretty much everything he could think about and even his subconscious knew about it. The dreams with Mingyu were intense, probably an addition from their last encounter.

That moment for sure would linger on Wonwoo's mind as long as he lived. He could not explain, just as he couldn't explain a lot of things that had happened in the last week, but the moment he was able to feel Mingyu, it was like having his own piece of paradise. The peaceful feeling the taller always brought him was nothing compared to how Wonwoo felt when their hands touched. It was like 10 thousand needles pierced his body at the same time, he almost fell on his knees but something was holding him up. Something at the way their hands fits perfectly together made Wonwoo feel like home. The way Mingyu's hand cupped his, like telling him everything would be okay, was the silent promise that they would never forget each other. Even if life lead them to never see each other again, they will always be part of each other's life. Mingyu doesn't need to be present to be there.

Something about Wonwoo's dreams bothered him until the 6th night.

He never dreamed about his past again, at least not the past he should dream off.

Every time he closed his eyes, Wonwoo was greeted with the same scene. The moment he left Mingyu was playing over and over again in his head for almost a week. He had decorated everything about the scene, he couldn't forget even if he wanted to. Wonwoo thought it should be some kind of karma. He knew he succeed to save Mingyu, otherwise he would not be able to touch him if his destiny was to remain as a ghost. He even tried to search the guy on social media but backed off at the last minute. He could not see him displaying his happiness with Minghao all around.

The dreams - or flashbacks, as Wonwoo used to think of - became something he grew used to, even if it bothered him after the first couple of nights. Why he couldn't just take his mind out of it? It was a beautiful memory, but he should try to keep going. He couldn't stop living for a life that it was never his to begin with. That timeline did not existed and he should be grateful that his choices didn't made anything difficult for his future self.

Wonwoo started to have problems to sleep. It was like the dreams drained him as he started to woke tired and with a headache. As if his everyday thoughts about Mingyu were not enough. He didn't even knew if the boy remembered him, for the love of God! All the time he had spent with Mingyu were with the ghost version of him. Wonwoo were pretty much alive so it would make a little bit more sense for him to remember something. But Mingyu, otherwise, were pretty much dead and his current self may not know a single thing about everything they went through. But Wonwoo tried to keep his worries and concerns inside his chest and his loneliness and sleepless nights.

But at 6th day the dream changed. He did not dreamed about Mingyu's touch anymore.

The new scene was familiar. Wonwoo remembered the place as if it was drawn at the palm of his hands. But why?

His soulmate's house was there, printed on his mind, like a warning. It was fixed, a frozen image. Wonwoo wanted to wake up, but it was like he was forcing himself to stay asleep. Why was he seeing it?

Eventually the sun came up and Wonwoo opened his eyes, tired as usual. It was like he had stayed up all night, the image still playing at the back of his head. The frustrating thing, however, is that, as long as Wonwoo knew the house by heart, he did not remembered how to get there.

Seeing the house woke something on Wonwoo.

Different from the dreams with Mingyu, in which he could not see any reason for, the house was almost like a LED signal wrote "COME HERE, IM WAITING FOR YOU". It caused a ruckus on Wonwoo's mind. He should go there.

Wonwoo tried his best to remember anything to help him to find out where the house could be. He knew his behavior was unusual at first, so he tried his best to disguise any proof of his weird and agitated self. But he couldn't mask anything today.

At school, Wonwoo spend the whole day at the library, trying to find a picture, an address online, anything that could lead him to the place he needed to be. He skipped lunch, he almost forgot to say hi to his friends. He was focused in one thing and one thing only.

"What the hell are you doing?" Seungcheol asked, startling Wonwoo for appear out of nowhere.

"I'm trying to find a place". Wonwoo said, returning his attention to the computer.

"What place?" Seungcheol asked while sitting beside him.

"It's a house I've been dreaming about".

"How do you know its a real place?" Seungcheol face was a big question mark.

"I've been there before. I just don't remember where it is".

"You don't have any reference point or the name of the street?"

Wonwoo tried to search on his mind for anything close to it, but nothing came up.

"No. I just know that it's a 10 minutes walk from a highway".

"Which highway?"

"I actually don't know either", Wonwoo sighed. Why wasn't he attentive to his surrounds? "There's a street behind the highway, it used to have houses there, but since the road was construct, people started to leave because of the noise".

"And how do you know that?" Seungcheol asked, suspicious.

Wonwoo only realized what he was saying when he looked at his friend's lost expression.

"I went there a few times when I was a kid". It was the lamest excuse he could come up with.

"Well, I'll try to look for it, if I found something I'll let you know". Seungcheol said while getting up.

"Thank you, hyung". The older patted him in the head and left.

Wonwoo searched for the whole day, not finding a single clue.

Late at that night, while sprawled across his bed, Wonwoo received the message that would be the turning point to whatever was out there for him to reach.

From: $.Coups  
To: 1woo

Ei, Wonwoo. Had luck on your search?

To: $.Coups  
From: Wonwoo

Nah, it seems like a dead end.

Wonwoo was afraid that the house didn't existed anymore. He saw and was there 18 years ago, after all. A whole lot of things could had happen in the mean time.

From: $.Coups

Well, luck you have me, then.

From: Wonwoo

What do you mean???

From: $.Coups

My father has a friend who work at the housing company. I gave him the details you told me and he found the said highway. You said the house was nearby, you can go there and look for it. I'll give you the address.

Wonwoo almost screamed when the address appeared on his screen. He jumped out of bed without second thoughts and when he was about to leave his room, he took a glance at the clock. It was past 10am, his parents would not allow him to go out. He sighed and flopped on the bed again. Of course he could always runaway but it wouldn't do any good. He could wait until tomorrow.

On the 7th night, Wonwoo didn't dreamed.

_________________________________________________________________

The sickening feeling on Wonwoo's stomach had been there since early in the morning when he went to school. There wasn't those good and welcomed butterflies, just that weird and nervous twist that he felt every time he was about to do something stupid.

While in the bus heading to East, after an detailed explanation to the driver about the place he wanted to go, Wonwoo thought about the next hours or so that could decide everything. He was heading to what used to be his soulmate's house, and the chance to find him there were higher. He was anxious for the encounter, but didn't know what he could expect from it. How would it feel like? He was going to forget every single thought about Mingyu and how much the boy meant to him? Or was he just going to feel attached to someone else, like an obligation? He didn't liked the ideia of that forced commitment but could only hope for the best.

It seemed like the blink of an eye when the bus driver told him that it was the last stop. Wonwoo thanked the man while getting out of the bus in a fairly familiar environment.

The streets were covered by dry leaves, giving the place a odd feeling, like it was abandoned for quite a long time. It may be true giving the state of the houses around. The grass were high, some had broken windows and signs of trespassing. Even if the place seemed dangerous, Wonwoo believed when they said that when the going gets tough, the tough get going; he wouldn't back off now because he was afraid. He was determined to end - or start - things today.

The more Wonwoo walked down the empty street, more familiar the place became. So when he found himself standing in front of the house he and Mingyu spent that week, he entered without thinking twice.

A nostalgic feeling engulfed him. Everything there was the same: the same scratch in the kitchen's floor; the same white - now rusty - refrigerator, even the plate Wonwoo had his last breakfast was still at the sink. The place was abandoned, the signs of the time were evident in the air. It had way more dust and spider webs that when they left. But aside from that, the place had familiarity. It had that strong presence of his memories hold in there. When Wonwoo opened the door to the room, the first thing he saw was a scene: the first night Mingyu stayed. It seemed like it was happening right in front of his eyes and Wonwoo couldn't help the smile that rose on his lips.

He wandered around the room, absorbing everything he could, even all the dust that accumulated in his fingers when he caressed the chair Mingyu liked so much. Everything there was a moment to behold and Wonwoo was grateful for be able to stand in that room once again.

It was 30 minutes late when he finally got out of the old hovel and followed the well known path up the streets. The lights shades of white and blue were still there, a little yellowish from the time, but as he kept walking through little houses and green trees, he knew he was close.

+

Wonwoo mind was blank. All the thoughts and doubts he had vanished as soon as he spotted the corner from where he saw the house for the first time. As he went close the the intersection he stopped, not trusting his legs. What was he supposed to to? Should he cross the streets and knock on the door? Or he should just wait until someone walked out of the house that thank God was still there? He decided that it was not worth to wait the time to come up with an explanation when he decided to cross the road and knock on the door. It would be seeing as faith anyway. Probably the boy would be inside and would open the door and the magic would happen. No one would question him why.

When Wonwoo was about to cross the street, he felt like he was being watched, like someone was burning holes at his back. So he took a deep breath and turned to face whoever was there, leaning in the lamppost, where he once leaned too, observing.

Even if he was miles away, he would always be able to see. And the moment he saw he was floating.

Mingyu was looking at him with the most dazzling smile he had ever saw and suddenly it wasn't gravity who held him on earth anymore, it was him. It was that inebriated presence that hold him still the whole time. All the feelings he tried to fight with came crashing down at him, making him stumble on his feet. His whole body was tingling and the breath was knocked out of his lungs, but he never felt so alive. His feet were moving even before his brain started to function again and in a blink of an eye, Mingyu was there, right in front of him, one arm away from the touch.

"What took you so long? I've been waiting the whole day for you" Mingyu said, his voice taking Wonwoo out of his trance.

Mingyu's whole persona was breathtaking: his pearl white smile, with his cute canines sticking out, his black hair thoroughly messed, his tan skin glowing with the sunset at his back, making him shine, the way he towered over the younger, eyes ever so gentle and patient. And Wonwoo was afraid he would disappear like fog in front of his eyes even before he could say something. So Wonwoo hold on to him like his life depended on it - and it may depend, who knows.

Mingyu's embrace was strong, warm and careful, holding Wonwoo so close to him that none of them could move and it was hard to breath. But Wonwoo knew those arms was his home. The sweet and unique scent of Mingyu's skin was the most delicious perfume Wonwoo had ever experimented and he wanted to drawn, just because he knew someone would be there to save him.

Wonwoo did not realized he was crying until Mingyu wiped the tears out of his face.

"I'm sorry I took so long", Wonwoo said in a whisper and Mingyu finally found his lips.

Kissing each other was a knew experience and through it, they became one. If Wonwoo thought the bond between them was unbreakable before, he wasn't able to handle all the things hitting him at the same time when their lips connected. It was like he was able to feel all the love Mingyu had to give and Wonwoo never felt so loved, cherished and desired on his entire life. It was so overwhelming for both of them that they needed space - but just a few inches, still tangled in each others arms. And talking about arms, Wonwoo took a look on his right wrist just to check on something; and he was right. His countdown had disappeared. He did belong in that embrace at the end.

But Wonwoo's mind would not let him go away with all the happy thoughts.

He was the happiest he had ever been in his whole life. Probably the happiest person alive between all the human beings alive on the planet. But he wanted more. He wanted to be remembered.

It was like Mingyu could sense the change on him and soon enough he was giving the boy the familiar smile he loved so much.

"I missed you so much, babe". Wonwoo felt like he could explode. Of course he remembered.

Then something crossed his mind in the speed of light. Mingyu was not the one Wonwoo should find here.

"How?" Wonwoo asked, completely oblivious to when all that happened.

"Well", Mingyu started, intertwining their hands. "It seems like you don't obey any rules in the end".

Wonwoo was still waiting for the proper explanation.

"In the moment when you avoided the accident, we should disappear. Both of us. But I went alone. I knew you couldn't make it because there were people around you. So I knew I should go back to you. But when I did, I felt somehow stronger. I could not hurt anyone, it was like a unspoken rule for me. But I was able to knock those mans out with a can so you could escape. And when I was drawing the circle something happened. I could not put a finger on what was at the moment, but I figured when I came back. I was born at 5:10, the exact time you were leaving. And when I felt the change, I knew I should risk because it was the last chance I had. The moment when we hold our hands probably changed our fates because that Mingyu who was born at 5:10, was the same Mingyu who was holding onto you never wanting to let go" Mingyu gave him a lovingly smile. "I still don't know who control those things but they sure know us and how stubborn we can be".

Wonwoo could not believe things worked out so right for them.

"The moment I came back, alive and with my countdown still on my wrist, I knew it was you". Mingyu said, while placing a gentle kiss on the lips of a bewildered Wonwoo.

"And what about Minghao?" Wonwoo asked, feeling guilty.

"I think you're smart enough to figure out by yourself" Mingyu said quirking his eyebrows.

And Wonwoo started to think. But he could not overcome the feeling of having stolen someone elses life.

Until he heard a door being closed. If it wasn't that obvious he would've figured out sooner.

Stepping out of the house in front of them was a blonde and tall young man.

"You should talk to him. You saved his life anyways"

Wonwoo gave him a shy smile and run to meet the boy distancing himself from them. He took a deep breath before putting his hand on the shoulder of the one who could have been his.

The smile Wonwoo gave the strange as soon as he turned around broke the ice between them. He was beautiful. The sun was doing justice to his fair skin and blonde hair while the boy looked at Wonwoo in all his glory. His eyes were sharp and he had plump and pink lips, a perfect combination of what Wonwoo remembered from his parents.

"Can I make you a weird question?" Wonwoo asked, playful.

"You already did". The boy had a smile that would certainly make Wonwoo's heart flutter if Mingyu wasn't already imprinted on his whole being.

"Do you believe in love?"

"Come back here in 2 months and I'll be able to answer your question", the boy said, chuckling.

Wonwoo took a glimpse at his wrist and saw his countdown at 60.

"Can you do something for me?" Wonwoo asked when the boy started to walk away.

"Why not?" He said, voice walking backwards to face Wonwoo.

A mysterious smile appeared on Wonwoo's face "Go to China".

The boy gave him a quizzical look but smiled at the end, giving Wonwoo a wink before turning his back at the boy again.

"I'm Wonwoo, by the way" Wonwoo screamed for the boy, a good steps ahead of him now.

"Nice to meet you, Wonwoo!" The boy screamed back. "I'm Junhui, but you can call me Jun", he said before disappear in a corner.

"Nice to finally meet you, Jun" Wonwoo whisper to himself as he felt arms sneaking around his waist.

"Karma is a bitch" Wonwoo said, faking a disappointed sigh.

"Why?" Mingyu turned his body around so they could face each other.

"He's prettier than you".

The look of shock and disbelief on Mingyu's face was priceless as he chased Wonwoo down the streets, filling with laugh the always so quiet neighborhood.  
_________________________________________________________________

2 years passed by so fast, Wonwoo thought as two familiar figures approached their table.

Everyday in the past year passed like a blink of an eye for the busy senior Wonwoo. While he was busy with finals and prom and all the bull seniors need to deal with to finish high school, he was living his eternal honeymoon with the most important person of his life.

Being with Mingyu made Wonwoo a new person. Happier, brighter, hopeful. He was someone who could see the good on peoples thanks to Mingyu's kindness and big heart.

It always touched him how the boy never failed to remember every single day how important Wonwoo's to him, while pampering him with kisses all over his face, like he was something so precious it could break. It always set him on fire how Mingyu could forget his speech about how fragile Wonwoo seemed when they made love.

They were the two sides of the same coin. Good and bad, heaven and hell, black and white. It was never boring or overlooked. They were the only pieces of that unique puzzle that seemed to fit everywhere.

When the dinner came to the table with four peoples gathered together to celebrate Wonwoo's graduation, something surfed back to his mind.

"Hyung, I never had the chance to ask you again" Wonwoo said, looking at Jun. "Do you believe in love?"

Wonwoo saw as the boy's face lighted up and he swore he never saw eyes so fond or someone look so bright as Jun when he looked at Minghao...

"I do. Do you?" Jun asked, intertwining his hands with the giggling chinese boy by his side.

...Maybe only his, when looking at his little ray of sunlight sited by his side, fingers fondling his from underneath the table.

"I do".

Wonwoo was really happy he was born with the mark. It allowed him to live.

 

**End**.


	9. BONUS CHAPTER: JUNHAO

_Someone once asked me if I believed in love._

Junhui will always have a special place for China in his heart. Despite the Chinese parents, Jun was born in Korea and grew there - even though he went to China a few times a year due to his beloved grandparents -

Christmas is one of those days where he packed his one week suitcase and went into the airplane to the short trip.

The black haired guy arrived at Guangzhou Airport and made the well known path til where the taxis were waiting. His grandpa usually picked him up when he traveled alone but he judged himself old enough - in his recently made 19 - to handle himself out there. The route to the old apartment complex took a few good minutes due to the heavy traffic of holiday season but the time crumpled in the backseat of the yellow car didn't get to annoy the boy, he was already too engrossed in telling his friends he was back.

Junhui left the car with a bright smile as he stepped on the well known sidewalk. He had a whole bunch of memories of summertime in that neighborhood; how him and his friends used to sprint out of the building in the mornings so they could play soccer in the playground a few streets away, and how Yifan - the 14 years old and oldest of his friends - would always be in charge of bring the 10 or so years old boys back home at lunch time. Good old days, he thought.

With a pat in the back from Mr. Zhang, Yixing's - his first crush at the age of 13 - grandpa and the building's concierge, he took the elevator to take his grandparents by surprise. He decided to arrive a day before his parents, so he could spent Christmas Eve catching up with his friends and old folks. He pressed 7 and waited until it stopped at his floor, making the way to apartment 71. As expected, after a lot of shouting - for his grandma part - and hugs, he was escorted to his bedroom and designed to help at the kitchen after a shower.

He took his time at his bedroom. The worst part of coming for Christmas was helping with the food. Not that he minded, Jun just wasn't good enough to make anything edible.

His room didn't changed much with time. Despite being visited only once a while, he decorated and modified the room with every phase he had. He was currently at the basic phase. After considered himself old enough to still have band posters in the wall, the room was left with only his plain white walls and wood furniture. It was simple but cozy, since his grandma cleaned it religiously. Jun put a grey sweatpants and hoodie before going to face his worst enemy: the bowl of garlic.

He went into the kitchen with a glorious smile and a rumbling stomach. The smell of strawberry pie was invading his nostrils, making him crave for his grandma food. Mrs. Wen was the best cooker in the town, hands down. He settled in the kitchen counter while his grandmother shoved him a plate with a piece of cake.

"By the time I come back home, I won't fit my clothes anymore" Jun said while savoring the delicious treat in front of him.

"You spoil the boy too much" Mr. Wen said while passing him a cup of soda. Jun just laughed wholeheartedly.

"Says the man who stills buys him Christmas gifts" Mrs. Wen said rolling her eyes while Junhui looked at his grandfather with a fond smile.

The old man was his favorite person in the world. He taught the boy everything he knew about wrongs and rights in life and was always there when Jun needed someone to ramble his outs and abouts. He was the person that guided Jun to understand about his soulmate and how life worked in their world. And the man always gave him Christmas gifts ever since he can remember. But they were never expansive. They were pens, socks, newspapers, a button... They always had a meaning, even if Jun couldn't understand right away. But he always understood.

"Don't say it like that. You knitted me a scarf last year, little lady" Jun joked with his grandma while pointing the fork at her.

And at the opportunity the small lady took his right wrist in her hands, observing his mark.

"Oh, only a week? You must be nervous, big boy".

His mark has been taking his sleep for the last few weeks. It changed a lot of times. Sometimes the days passed a couple at time, sometimes they went back. Yesterday it was counting 15 days but by the time he landed in China it went to 7. His other half was closer than he could imagine.

"It's not that big of a deal. No matter who they are, my heart is already taken" Jun said with a straight face.

He saw as his grandparents eyes widened. They were probably afraid of a inevitably heartache for the poor boy.

"Son, are you perhaps interested in someone?" Mr. Wen asked cautiously.

"Yes, I am" he said with a dreaming sigh.

"Who?"

Jun grinned and hold his hands in front of his heart. "Strawberry pie!"

He never dodged of something so fast as he dodge from the spoon his grandma threw at him.

❄

The reunion with his friends came later that day. He texted everyone to meet up at the old playground to catch up. He was excited to see Yifan since the latter had found his soulmate sometime in the last 3 months. And he couldn't spent the opportunity to gawk at how beautiful Yixing was - he would never get over him anyways.

When Jun arrived at the playground only 3 peoples were there: Yixing, Si Cheng and Luhan. He ran to them and jumped on Yixing's back.

"You weigh like a cow, get off of me!" Yixing said while Jun made sure to use him like a horse.

"Jun-ge, can you please spare my eyes" Si Cheng said while clinging onto Luhan.

"Ouch, that's what I _Win Win_ after so many time? I thought you guys missed me" Jun said, making a bad pun with Si Cheng's nickname.

"See? That's why we don't miss you, you're embarrassing" Luhan said, rolling his eyes.

"Where's Yifan-ge? Here's the only one that understands me" Jun said, faking a cry.

"That's cause he's the only one worst than you". Yixing said in a mocking tone.

"I heard that", said the deep voice coming from behind them.

The four boys turned to be greeted with two tall males. Yifan, with his usual bored face, styled hair and clothes, and another one, as tall as Yifan himself, with blonde hair and dark skin. The two approached them and Jun caught himself staring at how beautiful they looked together. And by the way their arms were linked together he could only guessed that destiny was lovely for his old friend.

"It's not like they're lying", the blonde with Yifan said when they came close enough. "If everything they said about you is true, then you're both are helpless cases of public embarrassment".

Jun couldn't help but notice how the latter's voice didn't match his scary appearance. He spoke softly, every word pronounced with calm and simplicity.

"Jun, that's Zitao, the pain in the ass life brought to me. Tao, that's Jun, probably the only person that could make me cringe before you came", Yifan said while winking at the boy by his side.

"You talk like you can live without me", Tao said rolling his eyes before looking at Jun with a pearly white smile, "Nice to finally met you, Junhui".

"Don't let them fool you, I learnt everything from him". Jun said while pointing at Yifan, making Tao laugh in knowledge.

They talked for hours. Jun said everything about like in Korea, and Luhan made sure to remember every minute how excited he was to finally go there, and how he would try to convince Jun's parents to let him stay with them. Yifan told Jun how he and Tao met, and how embarrassing the younger could be, much to the latter embarrassment. Si Cheng made sure to remember that one time when Yixing took Jun's first kiss making everyone tease the two and Jun making fun of the moment. "It was a Win Win situation". They could probably go for hours but it was Christmas Eve and their families were waiting for said boys back at home even though they lost track of time and ended up heading back at 9pm.

When Jun entered his house, his grandma came running at him waving her hands looking a bit desperate.

"What's wrong?" He asked before being shoved back out of the door.

"I FORGOT THE APPLES!", she shouted. "Go buy them before everything closes", and closed the door at his face after hand him some money and warn him to comeback before midnight.

Jun sighed and shook his head while heading back to the elevators. The apples tradition was essential for his family - and most of Chinese families - at Christmas. But as he looked at the clock he wondered where he could buy apples at almost 10pm at Christmas Eve. He left the building and walked for almost 10 minutes, looking through every single small light on the street. But he knew he should go far to find the night market. Jun sighed and got ready for a walk while humming to some random songs.

The night market was filled with different peoples, foods, smells and colors. After walking for almost 20 minutes in the lonely streets, Jun arrived at the heart of the city. The busy shouts for more sauce or someone asking for a change made the boy feel at home. He used to come with his friends and family to enjoy all the surprises the night market could offer and never left with an empty stomach or without some good memories.

He passed for a lot of stands before finding the one he was looking for. The red and juicy apples were displayed in dozens right in front of him and he sighed in relief. He went to the lovely old woman selling them and asked for a dozen. "You're free to choose your favorites", she said.

Jun chose eleven beautiful apples and put them in a bag. He was about to pick the last one, a big and bright red shining under his eyes when some other hand touched his apple. He followed that hand that dared to take his last daughter away just to be greeted with another bright red thing.

The red haired boy looking at him with a grin was in charge to take his breath away. He had big round eyes, a cute nose and plump bottom lip. His ears were covered by the hair - that Jun felt a big urge to touch cause they seemed so soft - but Jun could see a earring shining there. The boy had a different aura, something about him screamed new and excitement and adventure that could probably pass unnoticed because of the baby face the boy had. But Jun could sense it his bones, he could see how much of a ride was in risk looking at those round eyes. He could feel how that grin, that so carefree and melodious giggle that the boy let out when their eyes finally met, how that made his heart skip a beat. Oh, he was so ready to start that ride.

"You seem to enjoy red things?" The red haired boy asked and Jun wish he had two months so his smile could be bigger.

"I think it just became my favorite color", Jun said.

"Merry Christmas", the red haired said while reaching his hand out, returning Jun's apple.

"Indeed", Jun said while grabbing both his apple and his happiness.

America had this tradition with marriages: the bride should wear something borrowed and blue. China had this tradition with Christmas: you should eat apples to bring peace. Jun had this tradition with night markets: you never left without a smile on your face. And that night he left with a smile, a dozen of apples, an empty wrist and a full heart.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, I know I'm late but MERRY CHRISTMAS. And it's Joshua's birthday!!! I decided to make this bonus chapter since I finished the story months ago but I just couldn't write anything. But I think someone worked on a christmas miracle. I decided not to upload as another story bc I didn't dwell that much on the soulmate plot so it would be a little off for new reader. And i'm a china line trash, im a taoris trash, and i miss exo-m so im sorry for the sudden appearence. AND I JUST LOVE WINWIN OKAY HES LIKE JUN LITTLE BROTHER THEY LOOK SO MUCH ALIKE?? I hope you guys like it? Thank you for you support through all my stories this year. AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, I LOVE YOU GUYS ❤ 


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